Wednesday, November 28, 2012

#1ReasonWhy Male Gamers Continue To Fail

I stumbled across an article this morning that chronicled an interesting discussion that recently took place on Twitter. Using the hashtag #1ReasonWhy, several women attached to the video game industry in form or another explained the reasons behind an apparent dearth of women in game development. Most of the responses these women posted pointed to rampant misogyny from their male counterparts, as well as from male gamers. This saddens me, especially because I know women who love gaming, but feel incredibly in certain arenas because of members of the male gaming community. I will not speak for a woman because I'm not one, but I can sa my piece and hope that a male member of the gaming community, whether on the consumer end or creation end, sees this post and takes heed. How can you feel anything other than regret or remorse for your actions when you grope a woman at a gaming convention, call a woman some lurid insult because she pwned you in Call Of Duty, or dismissed her while she's voicing her frustration at the behavior of other male gamers. Pretending that the disrespect women in gaming receive is a figment of their collective imaginations is a sad and callow action. We saw it during Cross Assault, we see it at conventions, we hear it on Xbox Live, and we read it online daily. Why are you so threatened by the talent and ability of women? Does the success that women celebrate in other arenas scare you so much that you dump all you energy into turning gaming into the last bastion of the "dudebro"? Some of us like having gamers of the opposite sex around, and some of us don't care what's between the legs of whoever is making our games as long as they're making good games. Bottom line is that we as male gamers are in the midst of a teachable moment, and we have an opportunity to change the conversation about the way we interact with women within this community. What should we do? It's quite simple, actually: STOP BEING A MISOGYNISTIC IDIOT!! That "this is our culture" excuse you continue to use to brush off racist, sexist, generally idiotic behavior isn't working anymore.